Onkyo Readies Two Flagship AVRs

Upper Saddle River, N.J. - Onkyo
plans early-September shipments of its two flagship 9.2-channel networked A/V
receivers, which bring to three the number of Onkyo-brand AVRs with DTS Neo:X
surround processing.

The $2,899-suggested TX-NR5009
and $2,199 TX-NR3009 are the only two receivers in the Onkyo line with THX
Ultra2 Plus certification and Audyssey Multeq XT32 room correction.

Besides adding DTS Neo:X, the
pair add other features not available from their predecessors, including the
latest versions of HQV-Vida and Marvel Qdeo video processors, Dolby Volume, and
new streaming Internet radio channels.

Both feature DLNA 1.5 networking
certification, eight HDMI 1.4a inputs and two outputs, Ethernet port, and two
USB ports, one of which is an iPod-compatible USB input to connect an Apple
device without using an Onkyo proprietary dock. The two AVRs also feature a
Universal Port to connect such Onkyo peripherals as a stereo Bluetooth module
and an iPod dock, which stream iPod/iPhone-stored video and audio. An RGB input
is available for PC video, and an optional wireless LAN adapter plugs into a
front USB port to enable wireless networking with a PC and broadband modem.
Both AVRs can also be controlled from an Android smartphone or iPod Touch/iPhone.

Marvell's Qdeo technology, also
available in lower-priced Onkyo AVRs, up-scales 1080p video to a full 4K (3840
x 2160), including video from sources already up-scaled by HQV Vida to 1080p from
lower resolutions.

In both models' implementation of
DTS Neo:X post processing, consumers will be able to add four more full-range speakers
to a traditional 5.1- or 5.2-channel surround-sound speaker system. The
technology already appears in the $1,399-suggested Onkyo TX-NR1009, a THX
Select2 Plus Certified 9.2-channel receiver that shipped earlier this year.

With the nine-channel amps
embedded in the three receivers, consumers could configure a 9.2-channel home-theater
system in three ways, the company said. To a basic 5.1-channel speaker system,
users could add surround-back and front-height speakers to produce ambient,
non-directional sounds. Users could alternately opt to add surround back- and
front-wide speakers to a 5.1 system, or they could add front-height and
front-width speakers to a 5.1 system without adding surround-back speakers.

Depending on how suppliers
implement the technology, Neo:X could be used to create an 11.1- or
11.2-channel system.

Like last years' models, both
receivers include the related Audyssey DSX (Dynamic Surround Expansion)
post-processing technology, which adds front-height speakers and a pair of
image-widening left-right speakers to traditional 5.1-speaker setups. All three
receivers also feature Dolby ProLogic IIz, which adds a pair of front-height
channels.

In a 5.1-channel system, the
additional amp channels can also be used service to biamplify speakers or drive
remote-zone speakers.

With the addition of MultEQ XT32,
unavailable in other Onkyo AVRs, the two receivers deliver 32-times the
resolution of MultEQ XT technology compared to their predecessors, correcting
for frequency-response and time-domain errors in more than 10,000 points across
the frequency spectrum.

Internet radio stations and
streaming music services accessed by the receivers include Spotify, Aupeo!,
Pandora, Last.fm, Rhapsody, Napster, Mediafly, Slacker, SiriusXM and vTuner.